BCS, the Battalion Combat Series
Last Blitzkrieg

I was trying to piece together the big blocks of the game, that impact your choices as you play. So for my own edification I wrote down the chunks of rules that matter from my virgin perspective. Maybe we can revisit after a few plays to see how relevant they really are.

The first big impacting factor  is item number  I) from the image above: MSR or supply routes (these have to be carefully managed and just as in Ghostbusters – “Don’t cross the streams Ray”) that connect to II) “combat trains” which in turn when positioned optimally provide bonuses to SNAFU rolls, and enhance unit performance. Think of this combat train as an abstraction of shuttling trucks full of ammo, victuals and accouterments of war. Ultimately supply line leading to a supply edge can be as long as you need, just do not cross the streams!

III) The SNAFU roll impacts your ability to conduct operations with the activated formation, in a full, partial or none type of way. These states are translated into a  number of  IV) objective markers,  which are placed on the map and drive movement and combat.  The SNAFU roll is likely going to be a bug bear and one of the things we shall constantly be mindful of optimizing each turn as the bar for FULL access to your ‘plan’ or OBJ chits is rather high. You may not get full movement. You may not be able to place 2 OBJ chits, just the one. You may not succeed in activating a 2nd time!

V) Of course being within the radius of the HQ that is activated allows normal operation. So the progression from Supply source, to Combat Train to HQ to where they then place OBJ chits is all intertwined. As the radius stretching out from the HQ varies by HQ type/quality and this impacts your ‘optimal or effective’ area of operations.

Then the real job begins! Which is determining how to use the forces at your disposal. There are a variety of armor types, that may in various ways ‘engage’, ‘shock attack’, ‘attack by fire’ and ‘assist’ in some attack types.

Some units support combat, others may conduct recon.   Different units exert different types of ZOCS, certain units are impacted more or less by those ZOCs and your approach to battle is going to require more than the biggest stack and highest roll wins. This will be a game of subtlety lighten strikes, overwhelming force at just the right time & place.

Lots of layers to be exposed as we dig into this and I have not even set it up. The first scenario we will try is going to be 5.5 KG Peiper. Follow along these occaisional posts and see what we can learn together.

Posted from WordPress for Android